Smjh1979 wrote:Well, being a stage 4 cancer, it's supposed to be untreatable, and usually means death. I wasn't told this by my doctors, but according to what they told my parents, I was given only a week to live...

So far, this may be one of the few times in history where a stage 4 can be beaten? It's sure looking that way.

Only a week? It's been like...four months now. I sure hope you win your battle!

To get technical for those of you who want to know, the chemo that didn't work was called "Oxaliplatin". I was on this for 6 months, and was basically a waste of time.

There is a second form of chemotherapy they could use, but they didn't have any in stock, and they had to check to see if my government insurance would take it.

This second form of chemotherapy is called "Irinotecan", and has been approved by the insurance as of Yesterday (October 25, 2011.

I will be starting Irinotecan for the first time on October 27 at 11:15 AM MST/PDT. Overall, this round will be a little gentler (I don't know what that means though...), but it will be guaranteed that I will lose my hair with this chemotherapy, so I will be going bald this time around.

I also take other types of medications before the main part of the chemotherapy is given to me. They are called "Avastin", "Laucovorin" and "Fluorouracil" also known as 5-FU (insert whatever FU part of what you want, but it is really called 5-FU)

All these medications is what takes 3.5 to 4 hours to take, and keeps me inactive for so long.

In an unreleated story, I tried to wean myself off the Oxycodone thinking that I didn't need it anymore. I was wrong. My chest pain has returned like it did when I was first experiencing the pain for the first time, so I have to go back on it. In addition, My nausea has come back as well. Needless to say it's going to take a while for me to get back on Skype.

In summary, things haven't gone so well, but I'm trying to hold on, because if this chemotherapy doesn't work, then I won't know what to do. I've already been confirmed that I can't have radiation, even if I wanted to (but I wouldn't).

Let's just see what happens this go around. I don't know if this will take the remaining 6 treatments I have, or if have to start over at 12. I guess time will only tell...

I thought I was too. I guess the oxycodone is what made me feel good for so long, and fooled me. Well, at least I'll feel the part soon. I just got another prescription for one Today, so I'll get some more Tomorrow after my first new round of chemotherapy.

At first I didn't want to lose my hair, but after seeing all the bald people/celebrities on TV, it doesn't bother me anymore. My attitude on the baldness anymore is "Bring it on..."

I'll have to start wearing hats a lot more, but it's okay. I won't mind anymore at all.

Well, at least try to get some sun on your noggin. A big, bright white coconut is glaringly obvious, but a somewhat golden brown dome is generally considered to be attractive.

Just my 2c from experience

If I were you, I wouldn't wait, I would grab me some clippers and shave it all off, asap. Don't let that crap get you down with clumps of hair falling out, meet it head on and shave it off before it can get you. Then what?

Yeah, I do see your point... It's good that Winter is starting around here, and when the temperatures start getting over 60, I can give it some sun. I just don't want to burn my scalp too quickly though. Guess I'll keep an eye on the UV rating for that.

I'll probably do a combination of the shaving part. I want to see how it takes me to lose my hair at first (I'll be asking Today). Later on when it starts falling out and looking like Rip Taylor did back in the late 80s, I'll probably shave it then. I shaved off my mustache of nearly 15 years just shortly before I posted the pictures of myself back in late September, so wanting to dry the head quicker from a shower will be a good push to shave it when I do begin to lose it.

As I said, I'll post pictures of myself when I am bald. I'm still hanging between 197 to 205 lbs. I think I hit the "plateau" for a while, so I probably won't lose too much for a while.

For some reason last night, I feel almost 100% the other way. My nausea is 100% gone. I almost feel back to my old self, except for a little pain in the chest area again. I'm sure I should feel even more better next week, and may actually getting back on the model signals again. Maybe I can showcase something cool without having to resort to using a WCH e-bell clip sound off the site. Maybe I'll use the Safetran type 3 high pitch, or the Safetran type 2 clip, or even the good ole mechanical bell clip if I can loop one well. I guess I'll have to see how I feel first.